Athletic shoes have recently become fashionable for all endeavors. These shoes come in high-top and low-top styles. Many athletes prefer or require a high-top shoe for certain athletic activities and a low-top athletic shoe for other athletic activities. In addition to wearing athletic shoes for athletic events, athletes and others also simply wear these shoes for fashion or comfort. During these comfort or fashion wearing times, many wearers do not enjoy wearing high-top shoes as they are heavier and warmer than low-top shoes. In addition, many wearers are now very concerned with the style or fashion look of these shoes and require a fashionable shoe for both high-top and low-top styles.
In the past, in order for a wearer to get the benefits of both a high-top and a low-top shoe he or she was required to purchase both styles. This obviously increases the cost and requires the wearer to be fitted twice, once for each pair of shoes.
Prior attempts have been made to provide convertible low-top to high-top shoes. These attempts, however, did not provide shoes capable of standing up to the rigors of athletic wear nor did these shoes provide style and adequately conceal the fact that they were convertible. For example, U.S. Design Pat. No. 280,567 discloses a shoe that is comprised of a low-top shoe and an upper shoe adapter that is connected to the shoe by a visible zipper. This shoe does not appear to adequately provide the required needs of an athletic shoe. First, a wearer's lateral movements, such as hard cutting on a basketball court, may cause the zipper to buckle and break when the shoe is in the high-top configuration. Second, a metal zipper would not give the comfort needed for an athletic shoe. Third, a wearer's perspiration may cause a metal zipper to rust. Finally, when the shoe is in the low-top state, one half of the zipper appears to be left exposed to the wearer's ankle. In addition to being unsightly, this exposure is capable of cutting or injuring a wearer's ankle and could not be used safely for athletic wear.
Another attempt to provide a convertible shoe is disclosed in Crook, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 854,274. The non-athletic shoe described therein has a lower shoe portion and an upper adapter portion. The upper adapter portion has a number of studs around the lower edge thereof. Around the upper edge of the lower shoe portion are several socket pieces each having a slot enlarged at one end thereof. The adapter portion is secured to the lower shoe portion by placing the studs into the enlarged slots and sliding the studs and the upper adapter portion towards narrower ends of the slots. The adapter is further secured by two snaps each located on opposite sides of the shoe tongue. When the lower shoe portion is worn by itself, a separate strap having studs on one side is placed into the socket pieces to conceal the socket pieces and the convertibility of the shoe. This strap, however, does not do an adequate job of concealment, as it does not appear to conceal the snaps. In addition, this strap is not integrally attached to the lower shoe portion when the upper adapter is attached during high-top style wear. This strap can, therefore, be lost or misplaced and thus be unavailable for use when the lower shoe portion is to be worn alone. This shoe also does not appear to adequately provide the required features of an athletic shoe. Primarily, the shoe is designed to be an Oxford type shoe, not an athletic shoe. In addition, the studs and socket pieces do not provide the comfort needed for an athletic shoe and the socket pieces and the studs can rust due to a wearer's perspiration. Finally, the lateral movement of a wearer may cause one or several of the studs to slide out of the respective socket pieces thereby disengaging the upper adapter.